John Davidson was chosen 5th overall in the 1973 NHL Entry Draft by the St. Louis Blues following a stellar junior career in Calgary. During two years in the Western Hockey League, Davidson was recognized as the top junior goaltender while stopping pucks for the Calgary Centennials. And he was a workhorse. In his first year, at the age of 18, Davidson appeared in 66 games, recording six shutouts while posting an impressive 2.37 goals against average. The following year he statistics dropped, but that had far more to do with the team's lack of defensive abilities. Davidson played in 63 games, recorded two shutouts with a 3.30 goals against average.

Davidson seemed to have it all--size and the agility. The Blues made quick use of him in 1973 where he started 39 games for the Blues. But the team had a shortage of frontline talent and Davidson was only able to register a 13-9-7 record with a 3.08 goals against average. The following year Davidson appeared in 40 games, but with little help up front, the club continued to lag in the standings.

The New York Rangers obtained Davidson in the offseason and it was there that his NHL career would be defined, playing eight seasons in Manhattan. In his first year, Davidson started 56 games, registering a 22-28-5 record with a 3.97 goals against and three shutouts.

The pinnacle of Davidson's career came in the 1978-79 season when he appeared in 39 regular season games, posting a 20-12-5 record. The Rangers advanced to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since losing to Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins in 1972. The only obstacle was the powerful Montreal Canadiens who were looking for their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup championship. The Rangers came out of the gate strong, winning game one, but after that the Habs showed why they were the defending champs. Guy Lafleur, Jacques Lemaire, Serge Savard, Ken Dryden and company proved too strong, taking the final four games of the series.

The 1979-80 season was Davidson's last as a starting goaltender in the NHL. He played in 41 games, but the Rangers proved to be a one-year wonder, and were back in the pack that year. Davidson was on the Rangers' roster for the next two seasons but played in just three games due to a nagging knee injury.

The final totals on Davidson's career include 301 games played with three shutouts.For a younger generation of hockey viewers, Davidson is no doubt better recognized as a hockey broadcaster, where most would say he's had a much higher degree of success. He continues to work with the likes of CBC's Hockey Night In Canada and MSG, covering all Ranger games with play-by-play announcer Sam Rosen. He has also worked with ABC, ESPN, CBS and NBC.

Davidson served as NBC's analyst for the NHL All-Star Game. He worked for CBS as lead analyst for hockey coverage of the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France, and again at the 1994 games in Lillehammer, Norway, and the 1998 games in Nagano, Japan.

He contributed to ABC's coverage of the NHL in 1994 as their top commentator and served on the number one team with Mike Emrick for Fox's coverage of the league. Since 1995, he has worked the All-Star Games, Stanley Cup playoffs and Finals for Fox. For the past two years, he has hosted "In the Crease" on NHL.com.

In 1995, Davidson was named winner of the New York Emmy Award for Outstanding On-Camera Achievement, and in December of 1994, he was an integral part of MSG's Rangers broadcast team that was named winner of the prestigious CableACE award for Outstanding Live Event Coverage.

REGULAR SEASON

PLAYOFFS

Season

Club

League

GP

W

L

T

SO

Avg

GP

W

L

T

SO

Avg

1969-70

Lethbridge Sugar Kings

AJHL

1969-70

Calgary Centennials

WCJHL

1

0

0

0

0

0.00

1970-71

Lethbridge Sugar Kings

AJHL

46

3

3.09

9

1

2.56

1970-71

Calgary Centennials

WCJHL

1

0

0

0

0

3.16

1971-72

Calgary Centennials

WCJHL

66

8

2.37

13

6

6

1

0

3.00

1971-72

Edmonton Oil Kings

M-Cup

2

0

2

0

0

4.58

1972-73

Calgary Centennials

WCJHL

63

2

3.30

1973-74

St. Louis Blues

NHL

39

13

19

7

0

3.08

1974-75

St. Louis Blues

NHL

40

17

15

7

0

3.66

1

0

1

0

4.00

1974-75

Denver Spurs

CHL

7

4

2

1

0

3.86

1975-76

New York Rangers

NHL

56

22

28

5

3

3.97

1976-77

New York Rangers

NHL

39

14

14

6

1

3.54

1976-77

New Haven Nighthawks

AHL

2

0

2.52

1977-78

New York Rangers

NHL

34

14

13

4

1

3.18

2

1

1

0

3.44

1978-79

New York Rangers

NHL

39

20

12

5

0

3.52

18

11

7

1

2.28

1979-80

New York Rangers

NHL

41

20

15

4

2

3.17

9

4

5

0

2.33

1979-80

New Haven Nighthawks

AHL

4

1

3

0

0

4.02

1980-81

New York Rangers

NHL

10

1

7

1

0

5.14

1981-82

New York Rangers

NHL

1

1

0

0

0

1.00

1

0

0

0

5.45

1981-82

Springfield Indians

AHL

8

3

4

0

0

3.30

1982-83

New York Rangers

NHL

2

1

1

0

0

2.50

NHL Totals

301

123

124

39

7

3.52

31

16

14

1

2.48

AJHL Second All-Star Team (1971) WCJHL First All-Star Team (1972, 1973) WCJHL Goaltender of the Year (1972) WCJHL Player of the Year (1972) Lester Patrick Trophy (2004)

Loaned to Edmonton (WCJHL) by Calgary (WCJHL) for Memorial Cup, May 8, 1972. First goaltender to spend full season in NHL directly from junior without minor league experience. Traded to NY Rangers by St. Louis with Bill Collins for Jerry Butler, Ted Irvine and Bert Wilson, June 18, 1975.